Two Tribes Pack

In Africa Unleashed 3D for the Nintendo 3DS you charged into Africa to hunt wild animals like the leopard, rhino and elephant, bringing more than 30 weapons to bear on 15 different types of wild beast. Shouldn't this be called Hunter Unleashed 3D?

Granted I don't believe any of the animals roaming deepest Africa are wearing leashes. That would make the game far too easy. Instead they are running about, desperately trying to avoid becoming the subject of a Disney animated movie. Stupid animals, Disney doesn't make animated movies anymore.

I am not anti-hunting. I enjoy the flesh of tasty animals. I'm just not a big elephant eater (I prefer mini elephants).

Along with the senseless slaughter of a nature documentary, this week sees the release of a demo for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a 3D futuristic tunnel racer (as opposed to a Victorian tunnel racer), and Game Boy Color classic Toki Tori.

Suddenly I'm craving eggs.

Games

SpeedX 3D
Platform: 3DS
Price: $3.99

SpeedX 3D for Nintendo 3DS is a stunning tunnel racer that tests a player's skill and transports him or her into a trance filled with great electronic music and hypnotic graphics SpeedX 3D offers four game modes introducing the player to more and more challenging places at a speed that increases with every second. The question is: how far can the player go without losing concentration? Four game modes - Stages, Endless, Survival, and Zones - will test even the most experienced players. Speed beyond the limits - first-person view and 3D effects immerse the player in the game world and deliver brand new emotions. Start small - a perfect learning curve will hook new players and hold the attention of even the most proficient.

Toki ToriPlatform: 3DSPrice: $3.99

Get cracking on an egg-cellent adventure. He may be a small, yellow chicken, but Toki Tori is no coward. He's the hero of this egg-cellent puzzle platformer. He must rescue all of his kidnapped brothers and sisters, who are still in their fragile eggs. In this Game Boy™ Color classic from 2001, you must keep Toki Tori safe by avoiding monsters and traps while working out how to collect all the eggs in each level before time runs out. Luckily, there are lots of items to aid Toki Tori's mission.

Africa Unleashed 3DPlatform: 3DSPrice: $3.99

Head into the deepest reaches of Africa, armed with your wits, your skills, and an array of high-powered weapons and accessories! Experience action arcade hunting excitement like never before as you explore 35 challenging missions across a variety of terrain. Match the right weapon to the situation to maximize your score, as you hunt over 15 different big game animals and birds. Pull off amazing long shots, zoom in for spectacular head shots, and take down dangerous predators before they attack! Earn achievements, purchase new weapons, and aim for the best score as you fight your way through the safari!

The battle for micro-world domination is not over yet! Escape the Virus, an action puzzle series, is back with totally new game-play modes. In the Shooter mode the prey is now the predator. You will chase down and shoot hordes of vicious viruses. It's time to take the medicine! In the Territory mode you will protect certain zones and prevent enemies from getting too close to them. Accumulate enough energy and the zone will disappear giving you more time to smash enemies. Never stop running and dodging to avoid hostile attacks. Use all bonus items, power-ups and ammo and don't let the enemies surpass you. Get into the ultimate DNA warfare and kick viruses out of the micro-world once and for all!

Demos

Theatrhythm Final FantasyPlatform: 3DS

Tap and slide to the rhythm of over 70 tracks from the FINAL FANTASY series while joining forces with iconic characters and facing off against memorable monsters and villains. Unlock unique items and deeper challenges in three exciting game modes, as you help restore the Music Crystal to its former radiance! Enhance your game play experience even more by downloading additional songs from your favorite FINAL FANTASY titles.

Videos

AWOLNATION is Back!Available on Nintendo Video on: Aug 31, 2012

If heading back to school has you feeling a bit rebellious, don't miss this 3D video premiere of the latest hit song from Nintendo Video favorite, AWOLNATION!

Call them snooty if you must, but I think Edge magazine has consistently been the most mature, well-written and well-respected video game magazine on the planet for nearly twenty years.

While competitors have come and gone either pandering to the lowest common denominator or selling their pages as glorified advertising space, Edge has always been about smart features, brutal reviews and, most important of all, treating their readers as intelligent adults.

So it's awesome to see the magazine's online presence post this feature hosting the cover to every issue ever made. Why? Because if you've ever read it, one of the other things about the mag that grabs you is its design, which has usually featured clean, bold covers, a pleasant change from the usual "death by 1000 headlines" most other magazines (the current Game Informer excepted) suffer from.

I still remember the day when, as a teenager, I walked into a newsagent and saw that first issue sitting there, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all the other horrid mid-90s magazines. I bought it as soon as I saw it. It was like something from the future, and while other outlets have since caught up in terms of tone and coverage, they still don't do it better.

People have a hard time talking on the internet about crying. Crying is a vulnerable enough act on its own that taking the time to write about it just seems over the top! When we talk about games like Journey, we usually talk about how "the room got dusty," or we "got something in our eye."

Edge Magazine editor Jason Killingsworth has a theory as to why Journey has kicked up so much dust in so many rooms over the last few weeks—it's the jumping.

The jumping is where Journey breaks your heart. The jumping is why many players cried, even if they couldn't pinpoint the cause. The jumping is the tiny, insignificant-looking wingnut holding Journey together, without which it would collapse into a heap of exquisitely airbrushed scrap metal. It's not Thatgamecompany's token nod to classic videogame interactions, settled on after staring blankly at an empty white board for two hours, unable to come up with anything more engaging to have players do. It's not just a tool for poking around its stunning vistas and drinking in the sights.

Killingsworth says that he initially didn't understand people's desire to play Journey for a third, fourth, or fifth time. But now that he's thought about the jumping, he gets it—it's about weightlessness, it's about the incredible, near-perfect feeling of jumping in the game. "Jumping affects the emotional tenor of gameplay in the same way a well-timed key change does a pop song."

Crucially, it's not about flying—it's about jumping. "We don't want to KO gravity; we simply enjoy head-butting it in the nose repeatedly," Killingsworth writes, citing other not-quite-flight abilities in Just Cause 2 (yes!) and Batman: Arkham City.

I like flight as much as the next guy, but I think Killingsworth is on to something here. Without the gravity, the jump means less. And my fondest memories of Journey involve sliding down the sand with the sun in my eyes, shooting up the edge of a ramp, and jumping, jumping, jumping.